


One Lone Rider (Comes into Town)

by DarkShadeless



Series: Magnolia Drive [6]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: ;), Gen, It's not paranoia when they're really out to get you, Nancy isn't pulling any punches, Suspense, implied harassment by wild pokemon, it has been very busy behind mama's back, lighthearted detective noir, small town drama, to be fair neither is Mimi, warnings... warnings... hm, wild ghost pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:43:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShadeless/pseuds/DarkShadeless
Summary: And when he leaves, there'll be less trouble around.… or will it?





	One Lone Rider (Comes into Town)

He comes into town on a dreary monday morning. The weather of Magnolia drive has decided to take over the village proper despite the fact that it's July, still, and it should remain where it belongs for a few more months, thank you very much.

That is the sight that Hardison is greeted by when he arrives: mist rolling through the street of a picturesque little town that should be swathed in sunshine, clouds hanging low with a threat of rain not quite realized. In the distance lightning flashes. Thunder rolls.

Hardison parks his SUV in the town square and eyes what is shaping up to be a spot more trouble than he expected out of a village in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. "Huh. Not quite a milk run, after all, is it?"

His pokemon partner is flaying the street and the sky with a look sharp enough to cut. "Decidueye."

"Yeah. This is gonna be interesting."

* * *

Their employer, a miss Nancy Portman, is a well to do lady that looks about a stiff wind away from a heartattack. Hardison declines her offer for tea and scones and watches as she polishes off a whole cup that smells faintly of whiskey in one gulp.

The garden outside is more dirt than plants. Someone has made an effort to clean up but he has noticed the tracks of at least five Murkrow on the way in, some of them no more than a day old.

They're returning to the scene of the crime. Not good. If miss Portman is unlucky she’ll have a whole flock nesting in her attic in no time.

_But why tear up the garden? How does that fit?_

Murkrow are prone to mishief but they're not a Ground type. They don’t live on mud.

"So you see, why I hired you."

"Yeah. Think I do." Hardison agrees, absently. His Decidueye hasn't looked away from the window since they came in. He wonders what it sees out there that he doesn't.

Well. One way to find out.

"I'll get to work, shall I, miss?"

She puts her cup down with a surprisingly steady hand, considering. A steady hand and enough force to make the porcellaine click sharply. "Please. Please do."

* * *

"Alright old boy. What do we have here?"

Miss Portman told him where she thinks the little perpetrators are coming from, _at length_, but Hardison likes to confirm that kind of thing before he wastes his own and his employer's time. No sense hunting the field out back when the neighbour's unregistered Zigzagoon is sneaking into the shed at night.

Wouldn't be a first.

Decidueye stalks across the lawn silently, scratching at the floor here and there. Hardison lets him do his thing. That bird is a better tracker than he can hope to be just by virtue of being human.

And not being a Ghost type.

Ghost pokemon, like Psychics, are a breed all of their own. If you get down to it a lot of other types are just a regular critter with some really weird stuff slapped on top, like the ability to breathe fire, but Ghosts… oh my. They can get up to some nasty shit.

Hardison has seen a thing or two in his time. He could tell you stories.

When Decidueye digs up a muddy shred of a purple substance that makes a decent effort at pretending to be cloth and finds it worth inspecting, he's on his guard. Murkrow don’t wear clothing.

But Traunmagil do.

"Say miss," Hardison shouts across the yard, "you have a headache recently?"

At the kitchen window, where she is watching warily and more than a bit frustrated that he didn't go where she told him to, miss Portman pauses in rubbing her forehead, surprised. "Uhm. Yes? Why?"

Hardison picks the purple cloth from Decidueye's claws. It shimmers in the sparse sunlight. "Call it a hunch."

* * *

Yeah, this is shaping up to be a right mystery and that's before Hardison ever sets foot on Magnolia drive. Miss Nancy's right, of course. Every track they find leads in one direction, out of town.

There's claw marks from Murkrow where they dug up worms on the way for a snack. In a few places he finds a trace of acid or spit from a curious passer-by that licked something. Some rascal iced down the sidewalk in front of the mayor's place with what had to be a special attack because it hasn't thawed even a little.

Hardest to pinpoint: the cold spots that liter the town. There's no doubt that a Ghost came through, maybe more than one. But the picture doesn't jive.

"What would make all of you work together, huh? What do you get out of this?" Hardison mutters to himself as he dips his fingers into an area that makes the hair on his arm stand up instictively. If he's parsing it right that one has to be big enough for a… but that's impossible. Right? In a _village_?

After a few more tests Hadison steps away and turns to look toward where the clouds are darkest. He'll bet his lunch that's the street Miss Nancy pointed him towards. _Magnolia drive._

This is should be interesting.

* * *

Now, Hardison isn’t a fool. He gears up before he goes out. Blessed candles, a well-sealed pack of extra strong smoke and incense, the works. Most importantly, his ratty old coat, drenched in so much _nothing-to-see-here_ he has walked past Hunduster on watch who didn't give him a glance.

At the end of the day pokemon who have a bit of a connection to the supernatural aren't that outlandish. They rely on their senses just like any other pokemon. They've just got a different set to take into account.

Decidueye eyes him critically and throws a Shadow Cloak on top for good measure. You know you're about to get in trouble when that bird thinks you need some extra camouflage.

And then they're ready to go.

They walk, because nothing can hide an SUV and the last thing they need is to blow their cover coming in. Pretty road, flowers on the sidewalk. Some of them have been snacked on rather viciously recently and not by slugs.

It gets a bit nippy. Hardison flips the collar of his trenchcoat up and shares a look with his poke-partner. Nippy. In July.

On the next turn Magnolia drive opens up in front of them, the worn street sign swinging in the breeze. It creaks ominously. Less than ten feet further the road is swallowed by a forest, leaving only an entrance open that gapes like a maw with teeth of pointy branches. It seems to swallow the meagre light that falls inside, leaving the road to trail off into darkness.

Yeah. This is their ticket, no doubt about it.


End file.
